Women in the Arab Spring

Women taking part in a pro-democracy sit-in in Sitra, Bahrain

Women played a variety of roles in the Arab Spring, but its impact on women and their rights is unclear. The Arab Spring was a series of demonstrations, protests, and civil wars against authoritarian regimes that started in Tunisia and spread to much of the Arab world. The leaders of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen were overthrown;[1][2][3][4] Bahrain has experienced sustained civil disorder,[5] and the protests in Syria have become a civil war.[6] Other Arab countries experienced protests as well.

Women's involvement in the Arab Spring went beyond direct participation in the protests to include leading and organizing protesters and cyberactivism. Women face discrimination in the Arab world and many activists hoped the Spring would boost women's rights, but its impact has not matched expectations. Islamist parties have risen to power in states that experienced changes of government, and some view their power as a major threat to women's status.

Background

Sixty percent of the population of the Arab world is under the age of 30, and over half are female.[7] The Arab Spring countries have a poor record on most gender issues, but have successfully reduced gender gaps in areas like education and healthcare.[8]

Political participation

Although women there have had the legal right to vote for years,[9] the authoritarian nature of the old authoritarian regimes meant that both women and men had very few political rights. Freedom House, a non-governmental organization that promotes political freedom, stated that the Middle East and North Africa region "has historically been the least free region in the world".[10] Even given the general democracy deficit, women had lower rates of political participation and representation in the legislatures.[8]

Medical students in Libya raising breast cancer awareness

Education

The Arab Spring countries besides Yemen have largely closed the gender gap in education. The female literacy rate and female-to-male primary school enrollment rate have grown faster than in most other developing countries. In Tunisia, Libya, and Syria more women than men are enrolled in universities. Despite these high levels of educational achievement, female participation in the workforce remains low due to cultural norms. Societal pressures deter women from pursuing careers that are "too successful,"[11] so many women choose to or are forced to follow the traditional route of staying at home and caring for the children. Women in urban areas or from the middle and upper classes tend to have more opportunities to break from traditional norms.[8][12]

Health

Countries in the Middle East and North Africa have also improved women's health outcomes, resulting in one of the world's lowest excess female mortality rates (how many fewer women would have died each year had they been living in a high-income country). The region has reduced its maternal mortality and infant mortality rates and increased female life expectancy from 55 to 73 years in the past four decades. Birth rates are higher than in the developed world, but have been dropping as women stay in school longer and delay marriage.[8]

Role of Islam

All of the states in the Arab world are majority-Muslim and Islam plays an important role in social and political life.[13] Neither the Quran nor the Hadith clearly defines the role of women in Islam, so the impact of Sharia law on women's rights varies depending on a country's interpretation of it and how it connects to local traditions. Most countries in the Arab world place family matters under the jurisdiction of religious rather than civil courts.[14] Many countries have religiously-justified "guardianship laws" that give women the status of minors and make them dependent on spouses or male relatives.[7] In Syria, marriage contracts are between the groom and the bride's father, and Syrian law does not recognize the concept of marital rape.[12] However, official recognition of Islam does not necessarily reduce women's rights. Certain interpretations of Sharia define fertility decisions as a private matter.[15] Tunisia's pre-Spring constitution named Islam as the state religion, but since the 1950s and 1960s its laws have been more secular and have supported some women's rights. Women in Tunisia have access to contraceptives and abortions; polygamy is illegal; there is a minimum marriage age; and women have many marital and divorce rights. However, daughters have fewer inheritance rights than sons and husbands take control of wives' property after marriage.[7][14]

Pre-Spring regimes' policies

Pre-Spring regimes enacted some pro-women's rights policies. The regimes strongly opposed Islamist movements and these policies stemmed from the desire to make society more secular.[14] In Egypt, Hosni Mubarak gave women the right to sue for divorce from their husbands and implemented a female-friendly quota system for elections. Observers credited his wife, Suzanne Mubarak, with pushing the reforms.[16] Syria's Bashar al-Assad made it legal for news outlets to report on honor killings, although judges could still reduce penalties if murder was justified that way.[12] Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi made it illegal for men to marry additional women without their current wives' consent.[17] He also discouraged women from wearing the hijab, describing it as an "act of the devil" that forced women to "sit at home." This policy drew criticism for reducing women's freedom to choose their attire, but it also promoted secularism.[18]

Women in the protests

Women helped spark the Arab Spring protests in several countries and actively participated in all of them. The demonstrations were based on the issues of freedom from tyranny and patriotism, not religious ones. Bahrain's uprising has had some religious influence because many protesters are Shi'ites angry about the Sunni monarchy's power and discrimination against Shi'ites. However, the protests promoted democracy and the end of discrimination rather than a religious agenda. Many women's rights activists hoped the revolutions would lead to more democracy and thereby more women's rights.[7][14][19] However, they did not explicitly push for women's rights during any of the demonstrations.[7][20]

Starting the protests

Women in Tahrir Square protest the rule of Hosni Mubarak

Individual women had played key roles in starting the protests. On 17 December 2010, Tunisian policewoman Fedia Hamdi's confiscation of Mohamed Bouazizi's street vending wares led him to set himself on fire in protest. This incident provoked protests in his hometown of Sidi Bouzid and eventually spread throughout the country to become the Tunisian Revolution. His family members and outside observers have hypothesized that Hamdi's gender compounded his embarrassment and frustration and drove him to the point of immolating himself.[21][22] As the protests spread, blogger Lina Ben Mhenni reported from the rural areas where the protests started, including covering the security forces' attack on protesters in Kasserine. Her work provided vital information to other Tunisian activists and brought the events there to the world's attention.[23]

In Egypt, activist Asmaa Mahfouz posted a video urging Egyptians to protest the regime of Hosni Mubarak in Tahrir Square on 25 January 2011, which is National Police Day. Her video went viral and the 25 January protests drew a large crowd, setting off the 2011 Egyptian Revolution.[24] Yemeni activist Tawakkol Karman organized protests and student rallies against the rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh, which culminated in the 2011 Yemeni revolution and the abdication of President Saleh. Yemenis referred to her as the "Mother of the Revolution" and she was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2011. Libyan human rights lawyer Salwa Bugaighis helped organize the "Day of Rage" protests on 17 February 2011. Those protests drove the Libyan army out of Benghazi, which marked a turning point in the Libyan Revolution.[25]

During the protests

Thousands of women of all ages, classes, and religions participated in the protests in every country.[19][26] When the police became unable to provide neighborhood security, women organized their own street patrols and guarded each other's tents. Women in Libya smuggled medicine and weapons and gathered intelligence for the rebels as the protests turned into civil war.[27]

In Egypt, a country notorious for high levels of sexual harassment, male protesters treated the female protesters respectfully.[26] On the other hand, male protesters in Bahrain have formed human chains to block women from taking part, and in Yemen's Change Square a rope divided the men and women.[28][29] The women were subject to the same or worse treatment as the male protesters, including being "harassed, tortured, shot by snipers, and teargassed."[19] Women who were imprisoned were threatened with sexual violence or subject to virginity tests, and in Libya there were reports of mass rape committed by government mercenaries.[7][19]

Cyberactivism and social media

New technologies, particularly social media, enabled women to participate in the Arab Spring as organizers, journalists, and activists. Protesters used Facebook to mobilize supporters and organize events and YouTube videos and Flickr photos gave the rest of the world visuals of the events of the Spring. Twitter functioned as a live newsfeed for other domestic and international activists as well as international media organizations. Mobile phones, especially those with cameras and Internet access, served as a key tool for cyberactivists. Blogs were another vital method for women to disseminate information. The numbers of female and male bloggers from Arab Spring countries were relatively even.[30]

Internet access in the Arab World (2011)

Since older males dominate most conventional media networks in the Arab Spring countries, cyberactivism gave women their own voice both domestically and abroad.[20] Younger women, generally the most excluded from traditional news outlets, thus benefited the most from the rise of social media. The new platforms also enabled protesters, both male and female, to get their messages out without the filter of state-run media. Social media helped women engage more people in the revolutions by reducing distinctions between social and political networks.[30]

While internet access remains relatively low in most of the Spring countries, the people whom online activities reached included key groups like power brokers, journalists, the intelligentsia, and Western governments and media. Women split their messaging evenly between raising domestic awareness of their causes and sharing information about the Spring with other countries, while men tended to focus only on domestic awareness. The women's updates ensured that the West's 24-hour news cycle always had firsthand sources.[30] Bahraini activists Maryam Al-Khawaja and Zainab Al-Khawaja, Egyptian journalist Mona Eltahawy, and Libyan activist Danya Bashir were called the "Twitterati" (a portmanteau of Twitter and literati[31]) because their Twitter accounts of the revolutions were praised by international media outlets.[30]

Female leaders and activists

Bahrain

Bahraini human rights activist Maryam-Al-Khawaja

Egypt

Libya

Saudi Arabian women to drive activist Manal al-Sharif

Saudi Arabia

Tunisian blogger Lina Ben Mhenni

Tunisia

Yemen

After the protests

Some women's rights activists fear that the new Islamist-led governments in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya will curtail women's rights.[38][61][65]

In January 2013, women in Saudi Arabia were allowed to sit on the Saudi Shura council if they are "committed to Islamic Shariah disciplines without any violations" and must be "restrained by the religious veil." However, women in Saudi Arabia "are not allowed to travel, work, study abroad, marry, get divorced or gain admittance to a public hospital without permission from a male guardian."[66]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Tunisia: President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali forced out". BBC News. 14 January 2011. Archived from the original on January 15, 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  2. ↑ Bly, Laura (13 February 2011). "Sharm el-Sheikh resort in world spotlight as Egypt's Mubarak flees Cairo". USA Today. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  3. ↑ "Qaddafi dead after Sirte battle, PM confirms". CBS News. 20 October 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  4. ↑ Hatem, Mohammed; Glen Carey (23 April 2011). "Yemen’s Saleh Agrees to Step Down in Exchange for Immunity, Official Says". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  5. ↑ "Mass pro-democracy protest rocks Bahrain". Reuters. 9 March 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  6. ↑ "Syria in full-scale civil war – UN". Herald Sun. 13 June 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Morgan, Robin (Spring 2011). "Women of the Arab Spring". Ms. Magazine. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Opening Doors: Gender Equality and Development in the Middle East and North Africe (PDF). Washington D.C.: The World Bank. 2013. p. 135.
  9. ↑ Johnson Lewis, Jone. "International Woman Suffrage Timeline". About.com: Women's History. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  10. ↑ "Middle East and North Africa". Freedom House. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  11. 1 2 Giacomo, Carol (10 November 2012). "Women Fight to Define the Arab Spring". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  12. 1 2 3 Charles, Lorraine; Kate Denman (October 2012). ""Every knot has someone to undo it." Using the Capabilities Approach as a lens to view the status of women leading up to the Arab Spring in Syria". Journal of International Women's Studies 13 (5): 195–211.
  13. ↑ Assl, Nima (31 Jan 2011). "The Role of Islam on the Arab Street". Foreign Policy Journal. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Noueihed, Lin (2012). The Battle for the Arab Spring: Revolution, Counter-Revolution and the Making of a New Era. Great Britain: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300180862.
  15. ↑ Iqbal, Munawar; Habib Ahmed (2005). Poverty in Muslim Countries and the New International Economic Order. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1403947208.
  16. ↑ Ramdani, Nabila (4 June 2012). "Egyptian women: 'They were doing better under Mubarak'". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  17. ↑ Ghaziri, Sophie (25 February 2013). "Arab Women must fight back". Al-Arabiya. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  18. ↑ Pargetter, Alison (2012). Libya: The Rise and Fall of Qaddafi. Great Britain: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300139327.
  19. 1 2 3 4 Shihada, Isam (Dec 2011). "Women and the Arab Spring: Expectations and Concerns" (PDF). Nebula 8 (1): 283–295. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  20. 1 2 Newsom, Victoria; Lara Lengel (Oct 2012). "Arab Women, Social Media, and the Arab Spring: Applying the framework of digital reflexivity to analyze gender and online activism". Journal of International Women's Studies 13 (4): 31–45.
  21. ↑ Day, Elizabeth (14 May 2011). "The slap that sparked a revolution". The Observer. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  22. ↑ "Tunisia: 'I have lost my son, but I am proud of what he did'". The Independent. 21 January 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  23. 1 2 Ryan, Yasmine (21 October 2011). "Tunisian blogger becomes Nobel Prize nominee". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  24. 1 2 "Revolutionary blogger Asma threatened". Gulf News. 5 February 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  25. 1 2 "Salwa Bugaighis". Vital Voices. 2014. Archived from the original on 2015-10-17. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  26. 1 2 Schattle, Hans (2012). Globalization and Citizenship. United Kingdom: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
  27. ↑ Bohn, Lauren (3 February 2012). "Women and the Arab uprisings: 8 'agents of change' to follow". CNN. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  28. 1 2 Leigh, Karen (29 June 2011). "Exiled and 24: The Young Woman Fighting for Bahrain". The Atlantic. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  29. ↑ Mabrouk, Mirette. "The Precarious Position of Women and Minorities in Arab". The Brookings Institution. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  30. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Radsch, Courtney (17 May 2012). "Unveiling the Revolutionaries: Cyberactivism and the Role of Women in the Arab Uprisings" (PDF). James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  31. ↑ Definition of Twitterati in Oxford Dictionaries (US English) (US)
  32. ↑ "DOCUMENT – BAHRAIN: DAUGHTER OF HUNGER STRIKER ARRESTED". Amnesty International. 25 April 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  33. ↑ Solomon, Erika (14 July 2011). "Newspaper puts protest poet under house arrest". Reuters. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  34. ↑ "Teachers ordeal in Bahrain: arrested, tortured, sacked, suspended and prosecuted". Bahrain Centre for Human Rights. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  35. ↑ Cassel, Matthew (31 May 2011). "Silencing Bahrain's journalists". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  36. ↑ Egyptian blogger Aliaa Elmahdy: Why I posed naked
  37. ↑ "Mona Eltahawy Reportedly Detained, Sexually Assaulted In Egypt". 24 November 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  38. 1 2 Eckel, Mike (5 October 2012). "Egypt's leading female voice for change warns that revolution is backsliding". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  39. 1 2 "Saudi women launch legal fight against driving ban". Daily Telegraph/AFP. 2012-02-06. Archived from the original on 2012-01-13. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  40. ↑ "October 18, 2010 Human Rights First Society (HRFS) Statement". Human Rights First Society. 2010-10-18. Archived from the original on 2012-02-07. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  41. ↑ "Saudi Arabia: Where Fathers Rule and Courts Oblige". Human Rights Watch. 2010-10-18. Archived from the original on 2012-02-07. Retrieved 2012-02-06.
  42. ↑ "Saudi woman jailed for disobeying father freed - Governor of the Makkah region ordered the release of Samar Badawi". Emirates 24/7/AFP. 2010-10-26. Archived from the original on 2012-02-07. Retrieved 2012-02-06.
  43. ↑ "Aspiring woman voter takes ministry to court". Saudi Gazette. 2011-04-29. Archived from the original on 2012-03-09. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  44. ↑ "2012 International Women of Courage Award Winners". US Dept of State. 2012-02-05. Archived from the original on 2012-02-09. Retrieved 2012-02-09.
  45. ↑ "Saudi women file lawsuit against govt.". Press TV. 2012-02-05. Archived from the original on 2012-02-08. Retrieved 2012-02-11.
  46. ↑ al-Nafjan, Eman (2012-02-07). "It's back on!". Archived from the original on 2012-02-07. Retrieved 2012-02-07.
  47. ↑ al-Fassi, Hatoon Ajwad (2011). "Dr Hatoon Ajwad al-Fassi هتون أجواد الفاسي". King Saud University. Archived from the original on 2011-05-29. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
  48. ↑ Hammond, Andrew; Sara Ledwith (2008-04-30). "Saudi scholar finds ancient women's rights". Thomson Reuters. Archived from the original on 2011-05-29. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
  49. ↑ Abou-Alsamh, Rasheed (2004-12-02). "Saudi women cast a long shadow". Al Ahram. Archived from the original on 2011-05-29. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
  50. ↑ Abu-Nasr, Donna (2011-03-28). "Saudi Women Inspired by Fall of Mubarak Step Up Equality Demand". Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on 2011-04-02. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
  51. ↑ "First Saudi women register to vote". Al Jazeera English. 2015-08-20. Archived from the original on 2015-08-20. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
  52. ↑ "Women Deliver 100: 26 - 50". Women deliver. 2011. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  53. ↑ al-Huwaider, Wajeha (23 May 2011). "The Saudi woman who took to the driver's seat". France 24. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  54. ↑ Saudi women make video protest BBC. Tuesday 11 March 2008. Retrieved on 23 May 2010.
  55. ↑ Davies, Catriona (2011-04-14). "Ten must-read blogs from the Middle East". CNN. Archived from the original on 2015-10-17. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
  56. ↑ Burke, Jason (17 June 2011). "Saudi Arabia women test driving ban". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 June 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  57. ↑ "Histoire du monde : le droit de conduire" (in French). RTBF. 23 May 2011. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  58. ↑ Al-Shihri, Abdullah (21 May 2011). "Manal al-Sherif, Saudi Woman, Detained For Defying Driving Ban". Huffington Post/AP. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  59. ↑ MacFarquhar, Neil (23 May 2011). "Saudis Arrest Woman Leading Right-to-Drive Campaign". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
  60. ↑ Michael, Maggie (26 May 2011). "Saudi authorities extend detention of woman who defied ban on female drivers". Winnipeg Free Press/AP. Archived from the original on 26 May 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
  61. 1 2 Michaud, Anne (6 June 2011). "Arab Spring can't neglect women". Newsday. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  62. ↑ Ghannoushi, Soumaya (25 April 2011). "Rebellion: Smashing stereotypes of Arab women". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  63. ↑ "Tawakkol Karman". Nobel Women's Initiative. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  64. ↑ Macdonald, Alastair; Gwladys Fouche (7 October 2011). "Nobel honours African, Arab women for Peace". Reuters. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  65. ↑ Ennaji, Mona (6 March 2013). "Arab revolutions have made women worse off". The Daily Star. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  66. ↑ Saudi women get seats on Shura council for 1st time

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